The Craziest Story from the Dakota Access Pipeline Was Completely Ignored by the Media

By Nick Bernabe

Calhoun County, IA — Opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline has been making waves across the Internet recently as Native Americans, farmers, landowners, ranchers, and environmentalists make an epic stand against the project’s construction.

Over the weekend, 127 Native American activists, or water protectors, were arrested at the construction site near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. Despite a prolonged corporate media blackout, the Dakota Access Pipeline has now been forced into the national political conversation.

But a lesser known issue — and perhaps the craziest story to date about the pipeline’s opposition — stems from the use of eminent domain to seize private property and hand it over to the pipeline builders, Dakota Access LLC.

You probably haven’t heard about this ongoing matter outside of Anti-Media’s coverage (or if you actually live near the pipeline route in Iowa), as the national media has decided it’s not newsworthy. However, there is a major fight taking place against eminent domain in Iowa following the state government’s decision to hand over land owned by farmers to Dakota Access LLC.

In one such case, Calhoun County farmer Cyndy Coppola was arrested last week for opposing the pipeline. But here’s the crazy part: she was protesting on her own farm! The state of Iowa decided Cyndy apparently didn’t know what was good for her own land, and against her and her family’s will, took their land and granted an easement to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Heartbroken after watching the addition of pipeline construction equipment turn her land into an alien landscape, she could no longer hold back her emotion. “It was very frustrating, and when I first saw that topsoil piled up when they started digging, my first reaction was to cry, because we’ve tried everything,” she told local news affiliate KFYRTV.

After exhausting all legal options to stop the pipeline from using her land — and though a lawsuit brought by Iowa farmers is still in progress — she felt the need to physically stand in the way of the pipeline’s construction. For her actions, “Coppola and friend Ed Fallon were arrested after they attempted to block trucks carrying pipeline across her farm,”reports KFYRTV.

RELATED: Is This the Real Reason the Pipeline Company Is Allowed to Destroy Native Lands?

At the time of publishing this article, the ridiculous arrest of Cyndy Coppola has not been covered by the mainstream media.

To me, this story is particularly infuriating because it epitomizes what is wrong with America today. A strong-arm government stealing land from farmers to hand it over to a multibillion-dollar oil pipeline is something you would expect to see in a bad movie — not in a small farming town in Iowa. Is this what the United States has really become?

At a time when Americans’ frustration with collusion between government and corporations has reached a fever pitch, the Dakota Access Pipeline may just be the spark that ignites a broad coalition between Native Americans, farmers, landowners, activists, environmentalists, and many more against corruption and for justice and accountability.

Anti-Media’s coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline

Anti-Media has been covering the Dakota Access Pipeline opposition closely for several months now. From the presence of militarized law enforcement and imposition of mass arrests to Facebook censorship and eminent domain, we’ve been on top of it. You can see all of our DAPL coverage here.

Now we’re on the front lines of the opposition in North Dakota. Anti-Media journalist Derrick Broze has made the long trip from Houston to the Sacred Stone camp for the second time to report from the ground and bring our audience the raw unfiltered truth of what is happening with the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Please follow our Facebook page to stay up to date with the latest developments. We are broadcasting live uncensored video from location to bring the world the real story.

With the ongoing crackdown against free speech and freedom of the press at the Dakota Access Pipeline site, we need all the support we can get. Please support Derrick and Anti-Media if you can by contributing to our North Dakota PayPal fund.

This article (The Craziest Story from the Dakota Access Pipeline Was Completely Ignored by the Media) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Nick Bernabe and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email[email protected].